Couldn't Say No
by lrhaboggle
Summary: Cora finally gets sick of June's manipulative behavior and plucks up the courage to call her on all of it. How will June respond and what will it mean for their relationship?


"June!" the teacher called out. There was no reply. "June Freeman?" still no reply. The teacher frowned. "Absent again!" he muttered as he crossed June's name out on the attendance sheet. He turned back to his class and, in an irritated voice, asked them a question. "Does anybody know where June is? She has been absent for three days now and has offered no excuse!" for a moment, there was no reply, then one student finally raised a hand and answered the question in a very shy, soft voice.

"She's sick, sir," the student said. "She wanted to tell you but she's so sick that she hasn't had a chance to bring in a doctor's note. But I can bring one for her if you want," she offered. The professor's glare softened as he realized who it was that was speaking. It was Cora Stein, his favorite student. She was just so intelligent and academically driven. She was going to do very well for herself in life. What a girl like her was doing with someone as rebellious, careless and troublesome as June was totally beyond him. He could see, however, that Cora wasn't going to be giving June up any time soon so he simply exhaled slowly and spoke again, this time being far gentler because of who he was talking to.

"No, Ms. Stein," he said. "You know that only the individual is allowed to bring in notes."

"Yes sir," she replied, lowering her head and her hand.

"I do appreciate the offer," he added. Her head raised slightly and he could see the smallest of smiles on her lips. The rest of the class carried on peacefully after that, the professor trying to keep his calm for the sake of Cora, one of the only decent students at this school.

Once class ended, while all the other students flocked to the door, Cora swung by the professor's desk.

"I was going to take June's work to her," she said. The professor raised his eyebrows slightly, cursing June for hindering Cora's own growth, but he said nothing as he slid an extra copy of the assignment to the brunette.

"I hope she understands how lucky she is to have you," he said.

"She does," Cora replied easily but, for a split second, the professor thought he saw doubt in Cora's blue eyes.

The moment Cora left the classroom, she bit her lip nervously. She had just broken a big rule. She lied. June wasn't sick at all. She was skipping class just for fun. She said she didn't feel like going to class and that was the end of it. To June, it was literally that easy. To a goody-goody like Cora, though, that seemed completely insane and outrageous. She was the girl who couldn't even imagine doing something so rebellious while June was the girl who did it whenever she pleased, these past three days being an example of that. But at the same time, Cora couldn't bring herself to turn June in so, once again, she hauled an extra few papers home to bring to June. As her professor's final words echoed in her head, Cora did feel a dull flash of anger. She was sick of caring for her lazy friend to be totally honest. And yes, she just couldn't say no...  
"Hey June!" Cora grunted in annoyance as she opened the door to their tiny apartment.  
"Hey Cora," came the laid-back reply. The blond was currently stretched out casually on the couch, watching TV. Although Cora had expected something like this, actually seeing it really set her teeth on edge, especially since she'd been hard at work all day in school. In addition, even though Cora had brought June's homework home, she knew full well the blond wouldn't even look at it, let alone attempt it. This would, of course, force Cora to cover for her again. What hurt Cora the most, however, was how little gratitude June seemed to feel for all of Cora's sacrifices.  
10 minutes later, Cora found herself sprinting down the halls with tears burning in her eyes. She and June had bickered harshly about June's irresponsible behavior before June finally delivered a devastating blow:

"It's not my fault you couldn't say no!" that was what June said. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Cora had just said she was sick of being June's slave when June came up with this remark. The reason it hurt Cora so much was because it implied two things. First, that this was somehow _Cora's_ fault. Second, it implied that June didn't care at all. It implied that she had no regrets about just using Cora for her own gain.

Those two realizations were what pushed Cora over the edge and sent her running. She had wanted to stay and continue to chew June out. She had wanted to come up with a good remark herself, one that would've hurt June just as much as June had hurt Cora, but the moment June uttered that one simple line, it was over. Cora couldn't think of anything, let alone a witty comeback. Instead, the only things that would come to her were tears and there was no way she'd give June that satisfaction. So she ran, out the door and down the hall and into the streets she ran and she didn't look back. She had no clue where she was going, but all she cared about at the moment was getting away from the overwhelming stress.  
A couple hours later, though, Cora returned to her apartment with a much calmer mindset. That run through the city really had helped calm her down and she felt ready to address her problems. She even opened the door with a new sense of confidence but was shot down immediately but what met her eyes. The apartment was totally empty and quiet and dark. It was clean and organized but all the lights were off and June was nowhere to be seen. Just for a moment, a bolt of terror struck Cora's heart. June hadn't walked out, had she?

But then, as Cora looked around wildly for answers, she noticed that the bedroom, though the door was closed, had a light on. She could see the yellowish rays peeking out under the door. Curious and maybe a little afraid, the brunette treaded carefully over to the slab of wood and pushed it open. There, at the desk in the far corner and facing away from Cora, was June. She was hunched over something and though it took a moment, Cora realized that it was all the schoolwork June missed over the past three days. Affection and relief flooded Cora's heart and she pushed the door open the rest of the way, taking a step inside.

"Hey," she said softly. June whipped around, nervousness evident on her face even though the whole room's distance separated them.  
"Hey," she replied. As Cora took another step in, June stood from the desk.

"I see you've started your work," Cora began feebly.  
"Mmmm," June nodded slightly, slowly sitting back down when Cora continued to come closer. At last, the brunette had reached the blond and was staring down at the blond's work. There were a lot of scribbles and scratches on the paper.  
"You having trouble?" Cora asked gently.  
"I guess…" June admitted, looking embarrassedly at the large stack of papers she had yet to start.

"Let me help you," Cora suggested and even after June gave her a disbelieving look, Cora pulled up another seat and got to work.  
A couple hours later, June was reasonably caught up and Cora was able to convince her to come to class tomorrow.  
"Thanks," June said as they packed their stuff up.

"No problem," Cora replied. Silence reigned between the pair for a few moments more until June cleared her throat nervously.

"So, uhh, I gotta apologize for earlier…" she began. Cora looked into June's eyes and she could see that June was genuinely trying to apologize.  
"It's ok," she said quickly. "I've already forgiven you."

"Ohh, that's a relief," June's shoulders slumped in relief. Cora couldn't hide a chuckle. June never had been good at apologizing. The pair got ready for bed soon after that little exchange.

"Really though, you didn't have to help," June said as they climbed into bed about 20 minutes later.  
"Well, like you said, I just couldn't say no," Cora teased. "And I know you're incorrigible."  
"I know. I'm sorry," June apologized again. "I shouldn't have said that. I didn't really mean it. You've been such a good-"  
"Oh June. I was kidding!" Cora laughed, interrupting the blond. "I really don't mind helping you, I just got mad earlier."

"And you had every right to," June said. "I was being a world-class jerk."

"I wasn't much better," Cora said, trying to get June to cheer up. "I yelled too, after all."  
"Yeah, you know you can be scary at times," June joked and Cora laughed again.

"I hope I don't give you nightmares," she joked.

"Me neither," June replied, then she shut off the lights.

The lights hadn't been off for more than 10 seconds, though, when Cora spoke up again.

"By the way, we're starting a research paper tomorrow!" she said.

"Wonderful!" June groaned through the darkness.

"Don't worry, I'll help you write it," Cora laughed, patting June's arm. She felt June relax instantly.

"Oh, Cora, you amazing, wonderful girl!" the blond cried. "What would I do without you?" then she pressed a kiss to Cora's lips.

"Well, you know me," Cora replied. She was blushing. Thank goodness the lights were out so June couldn't see just how bad it was. But June didn't need to see the blush to know how flustered Cora was from the kiss. June had quite enjoyed it as well, though, so it didn't take her long to lean in for another and Cora just couldn't say no.

 **AN: This is not part of the Nevaeh University series. Instead, this is supposed to be a stand-alone AU in an unnamed high school. I wrote it purely to see June actually try to make amends with Cora after all of the manipulation she put on Cora, unlike in the movie. You can decide whether or not you want to read it as a modern AU or a "1920s, they're all still alive and on Earth" AU.**


End file.
